Top five 850 motherboards

[fern3]

For the Intel P4, using the 850 chipset, what are the best motherboards out there right now?

I don't need onboard sound, video, or network controllers. And I want more than 3 PCI slots (5 or more is preferred). Also, should fit in a standard ATX case.

Maybe someone could break down a list of, say, the top 5 contenders. Thanks alot, I appreciate it!

 

[Crashman]

1.) Gigabyte GA8-8IHXP (if you can either ignore the onboard stuff or find one without it)
2.) Iwill P4R533-N
3.) Asus P4T533-C
4.) Abit TH7-II
5.) Asus P4T533

I pushed the TH7-II down due to it's 400MHz DRCG's, and the P4T533 down due to limited availability of 32-bit RDRAM.

<font color=blue>At least half of all problems are caused by an insufficient power supply!</font color=blue>

 

[fern3]

Crashman,

Thanks for the reply. One thing I forgot to mention in my post. This would be for a P4 -2.0Ghz. So I need 850 chipset motherboards (not the new 850e). Are the ones that you listed 850 or 850e? Thanks again.

 

[AMD_Man]

1.) Gigabyte GA8-8IHXP (if you can either ignore the onboard stuff or find one without it)
2.) Iwill P4R533-N
3.) Asus P4T533-C
4.) Abit TH7-II
5.) Asus P4T533

Crashman, I can't believe you put the Asus P4T533-C above the TH7II! The P4T533-C has an FSB limit of 156MHz I believe. Personally, I'm happier with my TH7II than my IT7.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[fern3]

I pushed the TH7-II down do to it's 600MHz DRCG's

What is a DRCG and why is it important that it has a clockspeed of 600Mhz?

and the P4T533 down do to limited availability of 32-bit RDRAM.

What is 32-bit RDRAM and what do you mean by limited availability?

 

[fern3]

Does the Asus P4T533-C support the PC800 RDRAM? I want to use the PC800 RDRAM and a P4-2.0Ghz (400Mhz FSB). Will that work with this motherboard? Thanks.

Also, another question. I have a quality powersupply (I believe it's 300watt). Will this be ok for my new motherboard/cpu/ram?

 

[Crashman]

What makes you think the i850E won't support the P4 2.0GHz? It's the same chipset, just with a higher max bus speed rating, it supports all P4's. Or were you looking for an old Socket 423 board instead of a Socket 478 board?

All the boards I listed are Socket 478. Only the TH7-II uses the i850, the others use the i850E. My mistake, the TH7-II uses 400MHz DRCG's (Dynamic Rambus Clock Generators) which are rated for memory up to PC800. The others use 600MHz DRCG's which are are rated for memory up to PC1200. So the later ones support higher memory speeds, as well as lower ones, because that's a max spec.

RDRAM is 16-bit, used in pairs. The new 32-bit RDRAM is basically a pair of the old stuff on a wider module. This new memory is not a standard item at most retailers yet.

<font color=blue>At least half of all problems are caused by an insufficient power supply!</font color=blue>

 

[Crashman]

All these motherboards support all Socket 478 P4's including the 2.0GHz 400MHz bus version, and all support both PC800 AND PC1066 except for the TH7-II, which requires BIOS tricks to support PC1066.

<font color=blue>At least half of all problems are caused by an insufficient power supply!</font color=blue>

 

[Crashman]

Because the TH7-II can't handle memory speeds as high, requiring you to drop the memory multiplier at anything higher than roughly 133MHz. And because his 2.0GHz CPU will never get above 133MHz FSB without crapping out (in fact, his chances of even reaching 133MHz FSB are limited). Of course he'd be much better off with a 1.8A, which would run on any of these boards at 2.4GHz/133MHz. Or the 1.6A, which would run on any board at 2.4GHz/150MHz. But here is where the advantage is tilted away from the TH7-II: while the rest of the boards would allow him to upgrade his memory and run it at PC1200 speed, the TH7-II will not. Notice in any of the above scenarios he doesn't exceed the 156MHz limit of the clock multipliers.

<font color=blue>At least half of all problems are caused by an insufficient power supply!</font color=blue>

 

[juin]

My own Choice

P4T533-C
The one from gigabytes with a huge name
P4T533 (formely know as P4T1066)

cheap, cheap. Think cheap, and you'll always be cheap.AMD version of semi conducteur industrie

 

[letdown]

Newb question about that:

I'm considering a new system with the Asus P4T533-C, which has four rimms open. I've found kingston 1066 RDRAM in 256 meg rimms... will I be able to fit four of those in there? Or are the "wider modules" of 32 bit (1066) ram actually so wide as to take up two rimms?

Thanks

 

[Crashman]

LOL, the RIMMS you speak of are the normal 16-bit kind, the motherboard you speak of has four slots for them. So those are the right memory for that board.

The one one without the -C is the only board on the market right now with two slots for the wider RIMMs. And no, they are not interchangable. These new RIMMs go by a different naming standard, PC4200 being the 32-bit version of PC1066. The advantage with the new architecture is that, because the new RIMMs are 32-bits, you won't need to mount them in pairs.

But like I said, this has nothing to do with the P4T533-C or Kingston PC1066. The P4T533-C is made for PC800/PC1066.

Quick review in case you're still confused:

Asus P4T533-C uses PC800 or PC1066, your choice.

Asus P4T533 uses 32-bit modules such as PC4200.

<font color=blue>At least half of all problems are caused by an insufficient power supply!</font color=blue>

 

[juin]

also a bit faster for 32 version

The day i meet a goth queen that tell me Intel suck.I turn in a lemming to fill is need in hardware.

 

[Unwelcome_Guest]

Does the asus p4t533 support the old (800mhz) rdram?Thanx
Also at asusteks website ,the p4t533 agp socket says: agp pro (1.5 volts only) what does this mean?is it 8x 4x 2x or 1x? Thanx again
-MARK
ps: please help

 

[Unwelcome_Guest]

does the ga 8ihxp support the pc 4200 ram? THANX
-Mark

 

[AMD_Man]

The one one without the -C is the only board on the market right now with two slots for the wider RIMMs. And no, they are not interchangable. These new RIMMs go by a different naming standard, PC4200 being the 32-bit version of PC1066. The advantage with the new architecture is that, because the new RIMMs are 32-bits, you won't need to mount them in pairs.

Actually, I see them being called RIMM3200 and RIMM4200 so people don't get confused between RDRAM and DDR RAM.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[Crashman]

The P4T533-C uses the old PC800, as well as the newer 40ns PC800 and PC1066. The P4T533 without the -C uses the new 32-bit RDRAM only (PC3200 and PC4200). Both versions have the i850E chipset which is not compatable with older 2x cards, 1.5v is only available on 4x cards.

The GA-8IHXP also uses PC800 and PC1066.

The only board on the market that the uses the newly established standard is the P4T533 (without the -C).

<font color=blue>At least half of all problems are caused by an insufficient power supply!</font color=blue>